Entertainment

Emotional OITNB Stars, Regina King Among Essence Honorees

Published

10 years ago

February 21, 2015

Gugu Mbatha-Raw arrives at the 8th Annual Essence Black Women In Hollywood Luncheon held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2015, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

Nekesa Mumbi Moody, ASSOCIATED PRESS

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — The annual Essence Black Women in Hollywood Award is a guarantee of big stars and lots of tears.

Thursday kept to tradition as Oprah Winfrey, Lupita Nyong’o, director Ava DuVernay and others presided over an emotional luncheon that gave awards and affirmations to standout black women including members of the cast of “Orange is the New Black,” actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw and actress-director Regina King.

“I promised my sister I was going to keep it together. I lied,” quipped a misty King — whose vast credits include “Southland,” “Shameless,” ”Boyz in the Hood,” ”Ray” and “Jerry McGuire” — as she accepted the Fierce and Fearless Award.

The Essence luncheon, which will be televised for the first time Saturday by the OWN network, has become one of Oscar week’s most prestigious events. It started eight years ago to recognize the achievements of black women — key in an industry where they are underrepresented in mainstream roles, from acting to directing. Most of the honorees shed tears, as did some in the audience.

One of last year’s honorees, Academy Award winner Nyong’o, came back this year to pay tribute to the black actresses of “Orange is the New Black,” which has been lauded for the rich roles for all kinds of women. It’s the first time Essence has honored a group instead of an individual.

As Emmy winner Uzo Aduba and castmates Laverne Cox, Lorraine Toussaint, Samira Wiley and Vicky Jeudy looked on, Danielle Brooks — who plays Tastee on the show — summed up why being singled out for the Vanguard award meant so much to them.

“It’s really challenging to be a ‘blacktress,'” said Brooks, who talked about the rejection black actresses often face. “There are not a lot of roles for us.”

She praised the creators of the show for allowing the women to explore complex characters and said she learned something as well: “We are enough just the way we are and don’t need to change for us.”

Mbatha-Raw, who had breakout roles last year in the period piece “Belle” and in the musical drama “Beyond the Lights,” was honored by “Selma” star David Oyelowo. He brought out his own toddler daughter, who is biracial, to thank Mbatha-Raw for presenting a positive image of biracial women.

Mbatha-Raw, who is British, acknowledged the challenges of being both black and white in Hollywood.

“I think I always felt, ‘Black Women in Hollywood’ — do I even qualify to be here?” she said, to which someone shouted “Yes!”

“To be embraced so joyously means so much to me,” she added.

She spoke of a harrowing experience of being mugged at gunpoint while filming “Beyond the Lights” and credited it for helping her live a more rewarding life.

“What it gave me was a sense of letting go of the fears that stop us from doing what I want to do,” she said.

King, who started in acting as a child on the sitcom “227” and has added directing to her resume, talked about the power of Essence and how as a child, it shaped her future, affirming that she could be a doctor, a lawyer, or an engineer: “I decided to be an actress so I can be all of those.”

DuVernay, whose “Selma” is nominated for best picture at Sunday’s Academy Awards, honored costume designer Ruth Carter with the Visionary Award.

Carter is nominated for her work on “Selma” this year. She said when she dressed Winfrey for “Lee Daniel’s The Butler,” Winfrey told her art was prayer, and God speaking through her. She thanked Winfrey for opening her eyes.

“I have been seeking a deeper spiritual connection all my life and I didn’t know I was already doing it,” she said.

Among those in attendance were John Legend and Common, who performed their Oscar-nominated song “Glory”; model Chanel Iman; “Selma” star Carmen Ejogo; and TV powerhouse Shonda Rimes.
___

Follow Nekesa Mumbi Moody at http://www.twitter.com/nekesamumbi

Online: http://www.essence.com

###

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Arts and Culture

In ‘Affrilachia: Testimonies,’ Puts Blacks in Appalacia on the Map

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10 minutes ago

December 22, 2024

Oakland Post

Author Chris Aluka. Photo courtesy of Chris Aluka.

By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Bookworm Sez

An average oak tree is bigger around than two people together can reach.

That mighty tree starts out with an acorn the size of a nickel, ultimately growing to some 80 feet tall, with a canopy of a hundred feet or more across.

And like the new book, “Affrilachia” by Chris Aluka Berry (with Kelly Elaine Navies and Maia A. Surdam), its roots spread wide and wider.

Affriclachia is a term a Kentucky poet coined in the 1990s referring to the Black communities in Appalachia who are similarly referred to as Affrilachians.

In 2016, “on a foggy Sunday morning in March,” Berry visited Affrilachia for the first time by going the Mount Zion AME Zion Church in Cullowhee, North Carolina. The congregation was tiny; just a handful of people were there that day, but a pair of siblings stood out to him.

According to Berry, Ann Rogers and Mae Louise Allen lived on opposite sides of town, and neither had a driver’s license. He surmised that church was the only time the elderly sisters were together then, but their devotion to one another was clear.

As the service ended, he asked Allen if he could visit her. Was she willing to talk about her life in the Appalachians, her parents, her town?

She was, and arrangements were made, but before Barry could get back to Cullowhee, he learned that Allen had died. Saddened, he wondered how many stories are lost each day in mountain communities where African Americans have lived for more than a century.

“I couldn’t make photographs of the past,” he says, “but I could document the people and places living now.”

In doing so he also offers photographs that he collected from people he met in ‘Affrilachia,’ in North Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, at a rustic “camp” that was likely created by enslaved people, at churches, and in modest houses along highways.

The people he interviewed recalled family tales and community stories of support, hardship, and home.

Says coauthor Navies, “These images shout without making a sound.”

If it’s true what they say about a picture being worth 1,000 words, then “Affrilachia,” as packed with photos as it is, is worth a million.

With that in mind, there’s not a lot of narrative inside this book, just a few poems, a small number of very brief interviews, a handful of memories passed down, and some background stories from author Berry and his co-authors. The tales are interesting but scant.

For most readers, though, that lack of narrative isn’t going to matter much. The photographs are the reason why you’d have this book.

Here are pictures of life as it was 50 years or a century ago: group photos, pictures taken of proud moments, worn pews, and happy children. Some of the modern pictures may make you wonder why they’re included, but they set a tone and tell a tale.

This is the kind of book you’ll take off the shelf, and notice something different every time you do. “Affrilachia” doesn’t contain a lot of words, but it’s a good choice when it’s time to branch out in your reading.

“Affrilachia: Testimonies,” by Chris Aluka Berry with Kelly Elaine Navies and Maia A. Surdam

c.2024, University of Kentucky Press, $50.00.

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Oakland Post: Week of December 18 – 24, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of December 18 – 24, 2024

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December 20, 2024

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Arts and Culture

Promise Marks Performs Songs of Etta James in One-Woman Show, “A Sunday Kind of Love” at the Black Repertory Theater in Berkeley

“The (show) is a fictional story about a character named Etta, aka Lady Peaches,” said Marks. “She falls in love with Johnny Rhythm, leader of the Rhythm Players Band and headliners of Madam G’s Glitta Lounge.” Marks channeled the essence of Etta James, singing favorites such as “Sugar on the Floor” and “At Last.”

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5 days ago

December 18, 2024

Oakland Post

Photo Courtesy Of Promise Marks.

Special to the Post

It was “A Sunday Kind of Love” at the Black Repertory Group Theater in Berkeley on Saturday night, Dec. 7. The one-woman musical based on the music of Etta James featured the multi-talented singer Promise Marks

Marks, who wrote and directed the musical, also owns PM Productions.

Marks channeled the essence of Etta James, singing favorites such as “Sugar on the Floor” and “At Last.”

In between her soulful songs, Marks narrated impactful moments of the love story and journey of blues and forgiveness.

Marks sultry voice carried the audience back to an era that echoed with the power of Black music and a time of great change.

Marks said James shared love for the Black community by singing at gatherings during the Civil Rights Movement uplifting the people.

“She spoke to the movement, spoke to the people, and let her music speak for itself,” Marks said.

Backing the musical’s monologues, images and videos of Etta James are projected for the audience to view. While the production is fictional, Marks infused script with the unfairness and heartbreak James experienced while performing.

Marks performed gospel artist Donnie McClurkin’s “We Fall Down” as she narrated acts of reconciliation and forgiveness among the characters at Johnny Rhythm’s deathbed.

Marks, who regularly sings for the Miss America Pageant, was asked to perform as Etta James last year. “(At the event) a lady yelled out to me: ‘You’re Etta James!’ And then the audience went crazy. I said to myself, ‘I may have something here,’” she said.

Within 12 months, Marks created the musical production, which featured a dozen songs honoring “the great legacy of Etta James,” she said.

Marks says she was saddened to see how Etta James was often judged by the struggles in her life and wanted to offer attendees a more layered view.

“Etta’s life was so big. I want people to know that she was more than her drug addiction,” said Marks. “We can’t make that her legacy. Her catalog is too amazing. You can’t just be that and have the catalog that she (created). I don’t want the addiction to be the focus: I want her music, her element, her sassiness, and what she brought to be the focus – her woman-ness, that she was strong, and I wanted to honor that.”

Set Designer Nora Burnette says she created the set segments to mirror James’ life story. A set designer for BRG since 2016, she explained that her process of researching the scenario and the character serve as her inspiration for her design.

“I try to design a set as close to real life as possible so that the actress can deliver the performance sincerely,” said Burnette. “By creating the right setting, it helps the actors release the true essence of a character.”

The set brought the story to life and absolutely floored Marks. “Once Promise (Marks) saw the actual set, she understood my vision: ‘Wow, you get me. You get it,'” Marks told the designer.

Born Jamesetta Hawkins, Etta James, began her career in 1954 and gained fame with hits such “At Last” and “I’d Rather Go Blind.” She faced a number of personal problems, before making a musical comeback in the late 1980s with the album “Seven Year Itch.”

Co-producer and BRG Development Director, Sean Vaughn Scott, works with Overseer Production. According to producer Pamela Spikes, “Marks talent truly does Etta’s life story justice.”

Pam Jacobs of Hercules, a friend of Marks’ mom, Jackie Smith, said, Marks “was fabulous and sang all of those songs flawlessly.”

“I’m so proud of my daughter,” said Smith.

Marks, who has served as an instructor for BRG, will return on Feb. 21- 23 for an encore run of the musical.

“It’s an honor to be a part of the BRG (Black Repertory Group) family and continue our executive director Dr. Mona Vaughn Scott’s vision for the Black Repertory Group theater,” said Marks.

The Black Repertory Group Theatre is located at 3201 Adeline St., Berkeley, CA 94703. For information, visit: BlackRepertoryGroup.com